Telltale compass.



R. ANDRADE-LALAMA.

TELLTALE COMPASS.- APPLICATION FILED DEC. 27. I917.

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ANDRADE-LALAM'EM TELLIME COMPASS APELICATwt-I man Dec-2?. m7.

H V 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- I IAN/EN 70 fl es Arraemsfs.

u v Patented Aug 13 mm! w en nn nmnngsan To aZZw-kom it may concern: 7'

Be 'it known-that I, RAFAEL ANDRADE- LA AMA, a citizen of the Republic of Ecuador, residing atQuito, in the Republic of Ecuador, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Telltale Compasses;and I do hereby declare the following to bea full, clear, and exact description of the same,'reference being had to the ac comp'anying'drawings, forming part of this specification. 4

The object of the present invention is to .provide an apparatus for use on board ship, to giye an indication 'and warning of any -material deviation of-the vessel from its "predetermined course, the warning being in the nature of an audible signal'or signals i notification to the commanding ofiicer or ofratus of this kind .will be at once apparent which may be located at proper points for ficers. The operation of the device isautomatic and entirely beyond the control-of in order to conceal the factthatthevessel has been caused or allowed to deviate from u .the proper course.

The importance and value of an appas tothose familiar with navigation and asuccessful solution o'f. the problem constitutes an efi'ective safeguard, both to the lives ofthe passengers and vessel itself against either accidental deviation through bad or inefficient steering or through the .intentional acts of parties who mightwish'; to efi'ect-the destruction of lives and property. or carrying the invention into practice,

a ships compass or the essential working parts thereof, modified to suit present ,con-

ditions i'semployed asthe controlling element, suitable means being provided whereby'the'deviation of the ShlP from its course will. effect the closing of electrical tcontacts and the. sounding of audible alarmsor signals located either in proximity to the apparat'us or at a distant-point, as may be desired, the whole controlling mechanism bemg securely inclosed in a compartment which is locked against access by unauthor ized persons, but preferably having ajs'ight opening through which the mechanism may hetbbserved should this be desirable or in' Specification of Letters emit,

ersons who might I orjemro, ECUADOR.

. Referring to" the accompanying drawings, H 1 Figure 1 is aperspective viewof an ap v y i PatentedAug. 13, 191 8. Application filed December 27,1917. Serial m. 209,104.

'paratus embodying the, present improve:

ments with the cover of the box or. compart ment thrown open andsome of the partsshown more orfless diagrammatically. A

.Fig. 2 is asectionaljelevation of the work ing parts of the-control or compass mem-' bers of the device.

Fig.3 isa plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 2, wi the circuit andvsignalldia grammaticallyillustrated Fig. 4 is'a plan view on an enlarged scale of the adjustable contacts for the control circuit. i

the circuit connection thereto.

1c Figs. 5 and-6 are detail views of the mov able contacts showing theformof the sameand the preferred method of establishing;

is preferably employed and this compass I may convenientlyembody a compass box or bowl 1 from the weighted-lower end of .which the spring supported pivot 2 extends-- upwardly to form theseat for the tdab 'or socket 3 on which the compass card 4 is mounted.- The compasszeardl embodies-the Y usual magneticbars, and in so far as the compass feature is concerned, operates no differently from the ordinary ships com pass. The compass bo-x -or 'bowlzwhich-is usually of-metal is suppprted in gimbals 5 and.6,lincluding the customary gimbal ring 7 and a downwardly extendingbofw or frame 8. The frame 8 isadjustablyui'oun vto turn on a center which is preferably sub-Q stantially coaxial with the compass card', f "b5 and as a convenient constructionTit seats on a fixedstudior base9 and isadapted to ently described. t

be clamped. in its position of angular adustment by aclamp or set nut 10, accessto -wh1ch may be .had in a manner to be preslotwhat may be termed the movable contacts i .in the electric signal circuit and the compass box. or bowl carries the relativel vfixed but u contacts cooperate, the position of the ad-' ijustable contacts being such that the-circuit will be closed when the permissible deviaion "ofthe. vessel from the predeterminedaaijustable contacts with which t e movable course is exceeded. The' -caIled fixed or an adjustingscre'w 13withright and'left 'hand; threads engaging the respective contacts, whereby, by turning 'said'screwin one direction or the other, the contacts may 'be moved toward and-from each other,

i so to'- increase or-. decrease the" space between them. -The carriage or frame'll is conveniently secured to I the eylindri- .cal wall of the compass bowl by a. central stud lat passing through said wall'and adapted forv the. reception of a clamping nut 15 by which "the frame is held rigidly in place and good electrical contact with the metal wall of the box established; The contacts -12-project-over the compass card 4 and mounted on said card in posi- 'tion to-project upwardly between the 0on tacts 12, are movable contacts 16." The movable contacts 16 are made relatively small or' light so as to avoid imposing an increased load. upon the compass card and are -conveniently the upstanding needle-like ends 4 of a basewir'e ormember 17 securedtothe face; of the compass card and "extended around the dab or pivot socket,-'as shown clearly in Figs. 3.,and 6, at 18. a i

Inasmuch as the dab orsocket seating o the pivot is customarily of agate or otherv non-conducting material and the point of contact between the pivot and its socket is of-such a character that even though made of conducting material, a desirable electrical connection could not be established, I prefer.

to connect the movable contacts in the circuit by means of an extended and flexible connection, preferably in the form of a fine spiral conductor 19 which at its lower end is electrically connected with the base of the contact 17 and at its upper end and immediately 'over the pivot "of the compass card is connected with a fixed circuit connection at 20. The connection with the movable contacts isthereby suspended or its weight substantially borne by the fixed support at 20 and the resistance to the turning of .the

compass card under magnetic influence is reduced to a minimum, As a' convenient fix'ed support at 20, an overhanging arm'21 is attached-to the gi-mbal yoke 8 by suitable fastenings, as show-n in Fig. 2, and the-insulated circuit conductor extends along'this arm to a point where the lead wire 22 may be taken ofi through a flexible spiral or.sec-' tion of. the wire, such as will permit the ad justment of t'he compass members about the support 9 without interference. The circuit connection with the contacts 12 is estab'-' lished through the wall of the compassbowl by a circuit wire connection 23 which may a conveniently to 'a bindin post on one of the trunnions of the gimbal oint as shown in Fig; 3. The circuit includes a batteryor "generator 24, an audible. alarm" device 25 and preferablyia switch or key 26 which -may be opened or closed at will.

- The whole device thus. far described is preferably mounted 'in a box or. chamber conventionally illustrated in Fig. l and ema bodying ai-base part 27 and a'cover 28 which is conventionally illustratedas attached to the exterior-of the box and the. generator or batteries are illustrated as contained within the box. To give "access to the clamping nut 10 for'setting. the compass bowl and" card, according to the predetermined course of the vessel,'one part ofthe side wall of the box is madein the for'mof a door 29whi'ch '75 may be closed and locked topn' event access J to the partspfthe device. In Fig. l'the alarm may be turned down or jmoved aside after the cover 28 is opened, or if desired, any

suitable form of locking mechanism may be In the cover 28 there isprovided for it; preferably provided a window or a sight opening closed bytransparent material as at 30, and across this opening there extends a line or'indicator 31 which, when the device is placed in position for use, is parallel with the keel line, and, therefore, showsflthe" direction in.which the vessel should 'piogress'i .7

Obviously, the box or chamber ma be of any desired form to serve as'a binnac e, that' illustrated being designed to'be rigidly fastened to some permanent portion of the ves sel so'as to always occupy a definite and or longitudinal axis of the vessel.

In operation, the desired course of the vessel having been predetermined, and, per-' chance, the vessel having been set on that. course, the compass bowl is adjusted on its vertical axis until the movable contacts carried by the compass card liesubstantially midwaybetween the adjustable contacts 12,

.in which position thecompass bowl is clamped against further rotation on its vertical axis, but is free to swing and conform to the pitch and roll of the vessel.

justable contacts 12- determines the permissible deviation from the desired course befixed position with relation to the keel line fore the alarm is sounded, and by adjusting the contacts toward or from each other, the

permissible deviation may be varied in accordance with the desired latitude to be allowed withinw'hich the helmsman must 0p crate, in the steering ofifh. vessel.

Two pairs of contae'ts are preferably employed in order to reduce as far as possible resistance in the circuit. Not only is the re .sistance reducedby providing multiple contacts, but should one set be burned, oxidized or otherwise injured, the other set will be 115-, Obviously, the distance between the adits functions.

operative and enable the device-to perform Whatfis claimed; is:

1. ,A inariner socompasslembodying a box adapted to occupy a fixed position with relation-to the keelline. or longitudinal axis of the vessel and having an indication thereon fconforming to said keel line orlongitu dinal axis, a compass bowl-and -card mounted in ,gimbal supports in said box,

' about a vertical axis substantially in line and card may alarm and-contacts carried-respectively 'by 1 thebowl and card, the contacts carried-by 12.

withthe axis of the card, whereby the bowl be set'at the; proper angle with. relation to the predetermined course and longitudinal axis of-the vessel, and an alarm circuit including a generator, an

thebowlbeing so located that a radial plane midway-between them bears a fixed relation :to the bowl, said contacts its course, whereby and the alarm sounded when excessive devia si rh eur ports *stantially-in line with theaxis of the card,

2. jnar ners compass embodyin a co1nv. a1 9 adJustabl about a vert1cal '.axis su pass 'rbowl and card mounted in gim whereby the bowl and eardmay beset at a proper angle with relationto thepredetercourse of the vessel, circuit contacts carried by the bowl and eardresgectively, a

including an alarm and generator, substan tially as described. A i

' 3. A mariners compass pass bowl and card mountedin vimbal sup-- ports ad ustable about a 'vertical axis substantially in line with the axis of the card,- whereby the bowl and card may be set at the proper angle with relation to the predetermined course of the vessel, a pair of contacts, means whereby the contacts are so carried by the bowl that the radial plane midw be i adj us able. contacts on said gimbal supports and bowl being adjustable being spaced .froin each other a distance corresponding to the-permissible deviation of the vessel from a the circuit will .be closed 5 compass card owl, a (tin embodying a comu v ment, and an ad3ust1ng screw having right and left hand threads thereon for moving- 95 an electric circuit including an alarmyja,

tween them bears a fixed relation to the a bowl, :and' means whereby the.,contacts are 'adjustable toward andrffonyleaeh other in proximity to the compass Said contacts" 7 beinglin electrical coniietipn with the wall of the bowl, a movablecontact mounted on theco pass Circuitfincluding a generator an an havingfcircuit connections extending. respectiwely card and proiec'ting between the I the bowl an alarm alarm v 6"- to the Wall of the bowl and to the I the In vable contact oxithe compass card, the

last rrlentioned circuit connections including a flexible conductor suspended from a pomt above-the compass card, whereby the move- .41 A mariners compass ports adjustable about a vertical axis, where by the bowl and card may beset at the ments ofthe card under magnetic influence are not-f retarded. embodyin a com pass bowl and cardmounted in gim al supproper angle'with relation to the predeter-u mined course of the vessel, two jpairsof con taetsmountedonthe compassbowl andj'pro-x ""ov'able contacts'c'arried by the compass, card and projecting respectively, J

jecting' in proximity to the compass card, a pair of" between the contacts; of. .the first-"men:

tibned pairs, an. alarm circuit including an alarm, and a generator and circuit con nections included in said circuit and leadingv respectively to; the pair of contacts on the and-to the twopairs oi coni.

tacts on the compass-bowl. I Y Y :5. In a marine s'compass' embodyin a able toward and from each other, a frame in I device; carried by thecompass which'said contacts are mounted foradjust-:.

said contacts toward and fromeach other,

generator and circuit connections leading respectively bowl. v

RAFAEL ANDRADE-LALAIMA. i

to thecontacts on the card and a compass-bowl and card mounted in gim al 

